September 28, 2005

Banned Books

This is again Banned Books Week. A challenged book is one that a person or group attempted to remove or restrict. A banned book is one that was removed in response to a challenge. Challenges happen all the time. Banning is rare as librarians can be very determined people.

Nationally, the most challenged books of 2004, according to the American Library Association, were: The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier (copies in J paperbacks, adult fiction, and audiotapes)Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers (we don't own this title)Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture by Michael A. Bellesiles (363.33)Captain Underpants series by Dav Pilkey (J fiction)The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (J fiction)What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones (we don't own this title)In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak (picture book collection)King & King by Linda de Haan and Stern Nijland (we don't own this title)I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou (818.54)Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck (adult fiction and adult paperbacks)

September 22, 2005

Fallacies and Fashion

The following are superb award winners and are here waiting for readers. You don't have to browse through them while stuffed in a little carrell in the reference room - although you can't take reference titles home, you can carry them to any comfortable place in the library.

R 391.03 ENCYCLO Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion 3 vol
v. 1. Academic dress to Eyeglasses --
v. 2. Fads to nylon --
v. 3. Occult dress to Zoran, Index.Publishers Blurb While librarians may not be exemplars of fashion, they are very fond of good books about it. Fashion quotes.

September 04, 2005

Baby Pool Reads

If "beach reads" are 800 page paperbacks of dubious literary merit, here are two books for those of you stuck at home sitting in 6 inches of hot water in a plastic pool in the backyard. Clever, but also very light in mass.

813.6 CAIN Confessions of a teen sleuth : a parody / by Chelsea Cain ; illustrations by Lia Miternique. Frank Hardy, Tom Swift Jr., Encyclopedia, Cherry Ames - she knew them all. Did this parody need to be labeled as such lest some innocent think he/she has stumbled upon the real Nancy's original diaries? Or was it a legal maneuver? Whether a work is parody or satire matters for copyright purposes. Pictures.

818.607 ROBIN Saving face : how to lie, fake, and maneuver your way out of life's most awkward situations / Andy Robin and Gregg Kavet ; illustrated by Mike Pisiak. Though this is actually cataloged as a self-helf book, few but the most outrageous extroverts would actually follow any of the tips here. For the shy they are delicious to contemplate. You could probably read the whole thing in less than an hour, though this sort of humor may be better in much smaller doses. Just don't get it wet.